The present invention relates to women's garments. More particularly, the present invention relates to convertible maternity wear.
During the term of a pregnancy, the woman carrying the child will increase in size; and very early in the pregnancy will no longer fit into the clothes she wore prior to conception. Maternity clothes have therefore been developed which are more generously cut and tailored to provide a looser, more comfortable fit to the pregnant woman.
An alternative present in the prior art has been to incorporate stretch material into the waist and hip areas of pants or dresses. These panels are found to be unattractive and provide an unsatisfactory fit except during a limited portion of the pregnancy term, and do not fit at all when the woman is no longer pregnant. Often an oversized, extra long blouse is worn untucked to cover the stretch material.
Pregnant women often remain in the work place for the majority of the term of their pregnancy. This creates a need for more exceptable, fashionable and therefore expensive clothing suited to the special needs of pregnant women. Enlarged business suits and dresses are available for the working pregnant woman, however, these can represent a significant investment and may only be worn for a limited time.
Stretch material can be inappropriate for formal business apparel as is the wearing of an oversized, untucked blouse. In some instances, such as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,046 to Zebell, the manufacturer of an article will attempt to cover over an expandable panel with a panel of non-stretch material. The effects of a stretch panel on the shape, fit and overall appearance of a dress can only be partially masked in this manner. Any significant increase in size, such as that associated with pregnancy, will cause distortion in the essential pattern of a dress such as that illustrated in Zebell.
The prior art fails to provide a dress which can be worn by a woman before and after pregnancy as well as during the term of pregnancy, which is appropriate and attractive at all times, and is comfortable to the wearer.